Pauline Campbell's funeral held in Whitchurch

May 30 2008 By Allison Dickinson

PRISON reform campaigner Pauline Campbell was laid to rest in Whitchurch today.

Almost 100 people attended St Alkmund’s Church in Whitchurch for the 3.30pm service, officiated by Rector Revd Andrew Ridley.

The planned protest was limited to a small group of people who gathered near the church, holding a sign which read "Home Office responsible for Pauline's death" and handing out leaflets.

Mrs Campbell's coffin was wheeled into the church shortly before 3.30pm, covered in a large floral arrangement in shades of yellow.

Tributes during the moving 45-minute service came from pressure groups The Howard League for Penal Reform and Inquest, who described Pauline as "one of life's great egalitarians... A suffragette of penal reform".

Friends paid tribute to her dedication and how she was now finally at peace, saying she was haunted by her daughter Sarah's death.

Perhaps the most moving tribute came from close friend Jane Forshaw, who, choking back tears, ended her tribute with the words: "Lay down your sweet and weary head my friend, for now you have your journey's end".

After the service, Mrs Campbell was taken to Oathills cemetery, Malpas, where Sarah is buried.